Candice and Lionel’s DIY Chinese-Malaysian Wedding in Melbourne

Lionel and Candice’s wedding was an eye opening experience for me. I’d been told that the activities of the morning would very much be something I would be keen to see so the 5am start wasn’t too much of an ask! From what I understand, Lionel arrived at the bride’s house and then proceeded to convince Candice’s Ji Muis (“sisters”) that he is worthy of her affection. He got off to a good start performing a song and dance that he had choreographed with his posse of mates which was pretty amazing I must admit. Then the money starts flowing – Lionel’s friends start handing envelopes filled with increasingly larger amounts of money through the front door of the house in order to convince the Ji Muis that Lionel is financially well off. Once a suitable amount of money is offered, Lionel is allowed into the house but he has to resort to increasingly desperate (for lack of a better word) acts as demanded by the Ji Muis (including licking peanut butter off each others faces) to convince how committed he is to her and at the end of it, he’s finally allowed to see Candice. I’m not convinced many men would have gone through what Lionel went through that morning and I reckon that Lionel well and truly earned the right to see Candice that day.

I photographed this wedding with my wonderful friend and super talented photographer Steve Koukoulas and some of his images are interspersed within this post. You should also check out his Facebook page right here.